In the early hours of June 8, China's men's football team beat the Philippines 2-0 in Group A of the Qatar World Cup Asian Qualifying Round 40 to move to 13 points, six points ahead of their opponents, and lock up second place in the group. However, in order to advance to the second place in the group, the national soccer team still needs to strive to win all the remaining two matches. With only one win and a draw, there is still a chance to fight for a place on goal difference.
A clear lead for advancement
Prior to the match, Syria, the top team in Group A, beat Guam 3-0 to confirm the top spot in the group, while Guam became the bottom of the group. As a result, the national soccer team has made it clear before the tournament that it can only hope to be the second of the five groups with the best results in order to advance. At the same time, the results of the two matches against Guam would not be counted as points for advancement.
In the end, the national soccer team beat the Philippines 2-0, six points ahead of their opponents. According to the rules of the 40-team tournament, teams with the same number of points in the group stage will first be ranked based on the total goal difference. In the remaining two matches between the two teams, the Philippine team's opponents are the Maldives and Guam, two weak teams. Although the Philippine team may win all three points in the two matches, it is extremely difficult to surpass the goal difference of the national football team. At the same time, the national football team's remaining opponents also include the Maldives, so the national football team has basically determined the second group, the Philippines want to turn over only the theoretical possibility.
Competition for second place in the group is fierce, with the national soccer team in sixth place
Due to the withdrawal of North Korea, the competition for second place in each group will remove the head-to-head record against the team at the bottom of the group. The national soccer team reached 13 points after defeating the Philippines, but removing the two successes against Guam will change the points to seven with a goal difference of six. The national soccer team is currently in sixth place in the second rankings of the groups. Since Qatar, the World Cup hosts, will not play even if they qualify for the Top 12 (Qatar currently tops Group E), the top five teams with the best results in the second group scrimmage can advance to the Top 12. The national soccer team is now just one spot away from advancing.
In the other group 2 matches played at the same time as the match between the national soccer team and the Philippines, the potential group 2 in each group basically got points, which was not favorable for the national soccer team.Jordan in Group B defeated Nepal, the top two in Group C, Iraq and Iran, won together, Uzbekistan, the second group in Group D, won big against Singapore, and the UAE in Group G, defeated Thailand and Vietnam won 4-0 against Indonesia. The national soccer team got three points from the match, but did not establish an advantage in the competition for the second place in the group to enter the top five. The only good news for the national soccer team was that Qatar, the group leader in Group E, beat second Oman. Now after removing the results with the bottom team in each group, the national football team and the Jordan of group B accumulated 7 points, because the national football team's goal difference is 6, the opponent is 4, the national football team temporarily oppressed the opponent ranked in the sixth place.
However, it is worth noting that the national soccer team has one fewer game than Uzbekistan, UAE and Iran in front of them, and Tajikistan behind them, when accounting for 2nd place in each group.
A win in the next two matches is a sure thing, but if we get four points, we'll have to compete on goal difference.
The national football team will face the Maldives in their next match and then play Syria in their final match. If the Chinese soccer team wins both matches, then they will definitely be one of the five best second-placed teams in the group. A win and a draw will depend on the outcome of the other group matches.
The best possible points for each of the other groups after removing the results with the team at the bottom of the group are:
Jordan, the second team in Group B, may achieve the maximum points of 13 points, because Jordan's final two rounds of opponents for Australia and Kuwait, want to get all six points is extremely unlikely, and the possibility of obtaining 10 points or 11 points is more likely.
In Group C, Iraq and Iran are more likely to finish in the top two of the group, and the best points for the second in the group may be 11 points.
The top two teams in Group D are sure to be between Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, but since all three teams in the same group could be at the bottom of the group, it's hard to say how the second points in the group will work out. If Yemen are at the bottom of the group now, the best result for the second group is 13 points.
Oman will surely finish second in Group E. They will also play Afghanistan and if they win their best result will be 12 points.
In Group F either Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan ended up in second place, with their best points being 10.
Group G is a bit more complicated, Vietnam, UAE and even Malaysia could have finished second in the group. Thailand's loss to UAE left them with a theoretical possibility of finishing second in the group. If Vietnam finishes second in this group, their maximum points will be 11.
Group H is a bit clearer for the national soccer team, as South Korea and Lebanon both now have 10 points, and there is a possibility that the two teams could end up with the same 14 points, as the withdrawal of North Korea would almost confirm the top two in this group's seat in the Round of 12.
All things considered, the national football team, which now holds seven points in the second ranking of the group, must get all six points in the last two matches in order to secure the right to go out of the group. If you can only get 4 points, the second ranking in the group reached 11 points, which is necessary in the next game with the Maldives to get more goal difference. Relatively favorable is now the national football team in the second ranking of the group goal difference of 6, and just achieved a big victory in Uzbekistan, the same as tied for the top of the list. If you lose to Syria in the final game, the national football team will again come to "look at the face of the whole of Asia" time, if it really comes to that time, out of the line will be only a theoretical possibility.
The final two rounds of the National Football League's Top 40 journey (BST):
June 12, 1:00 am China vs Maldives
June 16, 1:00 am China vs Syria
(Yang Hee-hee)
